Can't Take My Eyes Off You

"He's at his grandmother's house. He didn't know you guys were coming today, so he went to his grandmother's house to play. When Old Lin is done with his business, he will go and pick Xiaowei up on his way back," Mrs Lin explained. "I just called my mother to tell Xiao Wei that you're here. Xiao Wei was so anxious that he wanted his grandmother to send him home immediately. He couldn't wait for even a moment. It was his grandmother who persuaded him to stay."

"Yes, this child is persistent." Jiang Yao smiled happily as she changed into a pair of slippers. When Mrs Lin was about to close the door, she said hurriedly, "Mrs Lin, I saw a big bag in front of your house when we came in. It seemed full. Should we bring it in?"

"A big bag? I'm home. Why would I leave something at the door?" Mrs Lin was stunned; then, she stuck her head out to take a look. "Oh, there is something here."

As she spoke, Mrs Lin bent down and opened the bag to take a look. "Oh! It's a bag of vegetables."

"There's a note inside; see what it says." Lu Xingzhi's sharp eyes saw a piece of paper in the middle of the bag.

Mrs Lin took the paper out of the bag. When she saw it, she shook her head helplessly. "The battalion commander's family sent this. They say that they have a lot of vegetables and they can't finish them. So they sent some here so that Old Lin and I don't have to spend more on vegetables."

Mrs Lin stood up and said, "Some of these look quite unique; something we can't find in our local market. They can't be grown in the north right now. Go in and wait for me; I'll go and return these vegetables. It's not easy to accept things from that family."

Mrs Link did not want to accept those vegetables, so she sent the bag back while the vegetables were still fresh.

Jiang Yao followed Lu Xingzhi into the Lin family's living room and sat on the sofa. Lu Xingzhi poured Jiang Yao a cup of hot tea and said, "It's obvious that it was the battalion commander's mother who did that."

"Fawning over the boss," Jiang Yao concluded. "She knew that someone was home, but she didn't knock. Instead, she left it at the door. She knew that Mrs Lin would not accept it. And she put a note in the bag. She was afraid that Mrs Lin would accept it but not know who sent it."

Mrs Lin came back very quickly. When she was back, she was not in a good mood; she repeatedly sighed when she went through the door.

"When you go back later, if the battalion commander's mother gave you a hard time, don't endure it unnecessarily. You can just scold her back," Mrs Lin said. "The battalion commander and his wife are good people, but his mother is too difficult."

Mrs Lin did not say anything else. If anyone in the unit could live across Lu Xingzhi's unit, who would not be anxious to think of a way to build a good relationship with his family?

The battalion commander was a straightforward man. He was not the kind of person who would play games. He was devoted to the army wholeheartedly. He was not the kind of person who was full of twists and turns. Lu Xingzhi did not expect the battalion commander's mother to behave like a different person when she moved in with her son.

The battalion commander's mother came to the army and lived opposite Lu Xingzhi. When she heard that Lu Xingzhi was only a company commander, she treated him like her son's subordinate.

Mrs Lin had heard some things too. Once, the toilet in the battalion commander's unit was blocked. The man was home, but his mother had called for Lu Xingzhi's help. Lu Xingzhi thought that the woman's son was not home, so he went to help. The two men saw each other in the battalion commander's house, and the battalion commander was embarrassed when he learned that Lu Xingzhi was there for the problem with his toilet.